what we need to do most of all is to go  out and subdue the world; secure resources,  

我們最需要做的是走出去，征服世界；確保資源。

found businesses, run governments,  gain fame and conquer nations. 

創辦企業，管理政府，獲得名聲，征服國家。

By contrast, the Eastern tradition has for a long  while told us something very different. In both  

相比之下，東方傳統在很長一段時間內告訴我們一些非常不同的東西。在這兩方面

its Buddhist and Hindu strands, it has insisted  that contentment requires us to learn to conquer  

它堅持認為，滿足要求我們學會征服世界。

not the world but the instrument through  which we view this world, namely our minds. 

不是世界，而是我們看待這個世界的工具，即我們的思想。

It won’t matter, says the East, how lustrous and  perfect our achievements end up being - how much  

東方說，這並不重要，我們的成就最終會有多大的光澤和完美--多少

money we accumulate, how many friends we acquire - so long as our minds  

我們積累了多少錢，我們獲得了多少朋友--只要我們的思想

remain open to being troubled at any point by our  emotional faculties. All the benefits of a palace  

保持開放，在任何時候都會被我們的情感能力所困擾。宮殿的所有好處

with seven reflecting pools and gardens planted  with almond and cherry trees will be wiped out  

有七個反射池和種植有杏仁樹和櫻桃樹的花園將被消滅。

by a depression. Chronic anxiety will  spoil the ownership of the fastest jet.  

由一個抑鬱症。長期的焦慮會破壞對最快噴氣機的所有權。

A fortune is of no use at all so long as one is  nagged by paranoia. An unhappy relationship at  

只要一個人被偏執狂糾纏，財富就沒有任何用處。一個不愉快的關係在

once destroys any advantages of an esteemed name. Given this vulnerability of external goods to  

一旦破壞了受人尊敬的名字的任何優勢。鑑於外部貨物的這種易受影響性

the vagaries of the mental realm, the Eastern  tradition advises us to stop spending our time  

東方傳統建議我們不要把時間花在精神領域的變幻莫測上。

trying to rearrange the material building  blocks of existence only then to fall foul  

試圖重新安排存在的物質結構塊，然後卻陷入了困境

of psychological ills - and to focus instead on  learning how to control and manage the inherently  

而把重點放在學習如何控制和管理固有的心理疾病上。

unruly and hugely complicated instrument through  which the external world reaches consciousness.  

亂七八糟的、極其複雜的工具，外部世界通過它到達意識。

Rather than striving to build empires, we need to  spend many years examining how we think and dream;  

我們不需要努力建立帝國，而是需要花很多年的時間來審視我們如何思考和夢想。

we have to reflect on our families, the  economic systems we were brought up under,  

我們必須反思我們的家庭，反思我們所處的經濟體系。

the impact of our sexual urges and the biological  and cosmological order of nature of which we are  

我們的性衝動和我們所處的自然界的生物和宇宙秩序的影響。

an infinitesimal part. We have to learn how to  breathe in such a way as to allow maximal oxygen  

一個無限小的部分。我們必須學會如何以這樣的方式呼吸，以便讓氧氣達到最大限度。

to reach our frontal context and to hold our  bodies so that our organs are not crushed and  

以達到我們的正面背景，並保持我們的身體，使我們的器官不被壓碎和

our blood flow subtly impeded. We need to  be able to sleep a regular number of hours  

我們的血液流動受到了微妙的阻礙。我們需要有固定的睡眠時間

and remove all distractions and excitements  that might disturb our streams of thought. 

並消除所有可能干擾我們思維流的干擾和興奮。

This is by no means an easy set of priorities;  it is indeed as much hard work as managing a  

這絕不是一套簡單的優先事項；這確實是和管理一家公司一樣的艱苦工作。

law firm. But, the yogis and sages advise that it  delivers us a far more secure hold on the actual  

律師事務所。但是，瑜伽師和聖人建議，它為我們提供了對實際情況更安全的把握。

ingredients of contentment than the bank account  of a newly installed CEO with a yacht off Barbuda. 

比起一個新上任的首席執行官在巴布達島外的遊艇上的銀行賬戶，我們更需要滿足的成分。

Some of the reason why this continues  to feel unreal is that we simply can’t  

為什麼這仍然感覺不真實，其中一些原因是我們根本無法

imagine that success, great wealth and a  palace wouldn’t in the end do the trick.  

想象一下，成功、巨大的財富和宮殿最終都不會起到作用。

And that in turn is because too few people  who have been blessed with such accoutrements  

而這又是因為很少有人能得到這樣的好處。

have ever given us an honest account  of what it felt like to have them.  

他們曾經向我們誠實地描述了擁有它們的感覺。

Intellectual history, with its dire incantations  against a worldly life, has been written by a set  

知識分子的歷史，以及它對世俗生活的可怕咒語，都是由一組人寫的

of suspiciously poor and envious-sounding people. It is therefore highly fortuitous and extremely  

的可疑的窮人和聽起來很羨慕的人。是以，它是非常偶然的，而且是極其

reassuring that Buddhism should have been  founded by a disgruntled former playboy,  

令人欣慰的是，佛教應該是由一個心懷不滿的前花花公子創立的。

Siddhartha Gautama, who once had a palace and a  trust fund, fame and servants, but gave them up  

釋迦牟尼佛，曾經擁有宮殿和信託基金、名聲和僕人，但卻放棄了它們

to sit under a bodhi tree and could therefore  tell us, with the benefit of lived experience,  

他曾坐在菩提樹下，是以可以用生活經驗的好處告訴我們。

what material goods can really do - and  not do - for us. And without false modesty,  

物質產品能夠為我們做什麼--以及不能做什麼。而且沒有虛假的謙虛。

he insisted that they won’t be enough. The  food may be tasty and the rooms elegant but  

他堅持認為，這些東西是不夠的。食物可能很美味，房間也很優雅，但

such advantages cannot serve their purpose so  long as one’s mind is haunted and unsteady,  

只要一個人的思想被困擾和不穩定，這種優勢就不能達到目的。

as it invariably will be without a long emotional  education and regular spiritual practice. 

因為如果沒有長期的情感教育和定期的精神實踐，它必然會是這樣。

We should take the East’s warnings seriously.  However hard we strive, it is logical that we  

我們應該認真對待東方的警告。 無論我們如何努力，我們理應

can only be as happy as our minds are at peace.  And given how vulnerable we are to mental  

只有當我們的心靈處於平靜狀態時，我們才會感到快樂。 鑑於我們在精神上是多麼脆弱

disturbances, and how short our lives are, we  should on balance almost certainly spend a little  

擾，以及我們的生命是多麼短暫，總的來說，我們應該幾乎肯定會花一點時間

more time on our psyches and a little less time on  our plans for a second home and a New York office. 

更多的時間在我們的心理上，少一點時間在我們的第二個家和紐約辦公室的計劃上。

The West has produced too many unhappy playboys,  and the East too many genuinely peaceful sages,  

西方產生了太多不快樂的花花公子，而東方產生了太多真正和平的聖人。

for us not to shift our attention away from  conquering the world towards taming our minds.

對於我們來說，不要把注意力從征服世界轉向馴服我們的思想。